More pet owners eligible for free spay/neuter services
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Lansun/Flickr
In an effort to reduce the number of unwanted and abandoned pets in Pima County, the Animal Welfare Alliance of Southern Arizona has expanded its Pet Fix program to provide free spay/neuter surgeries to pets whose owners are on government assistance.
Sponsored in part by the Pima County Health Department, the program allows any government-assisted pet owner to bring in up to two animals per month to be fixed for free at participating clinics, said Pima County spokeswoman Rhonda Bodfield.
Eligible owners with more than two pets can still apply for the free services, but will have to make a subsequent visit, Bodfield said in a news release.
Government assistance might include Section 8 housing, Arizona’s AHCCS Medicaid program or food stamps, said the news release.
Pet owners who do not receive government assistance may still apply for the pet sterilization services if they live in one of 16 residential areas, said Bodfield.
Those areas include:
- Pueblo Gardens
- Littletown
- Midvale Park
- Barrio Hollywood
- Three Points
- Picture Rocks
- Flowing Wells
- Catalina
- Ajo
- Arivaca
- City of South Tucson
- Avra Valley
- Pascua Yaqui Tribe reservation
- Tohono O'odham Nation
- Central Tucson: Bounded by I-10 to the west, Columbus Boulevard to the east, Prince Road to the north, and Speedway to the south
Participating clinics include:
- Ajo Veterinary Clinic, 382 W. Ajo Way (623-5728)
- Animal Birth Control, 1145 S. Craycroft Rd. (745-4564)
- Arizona Spay/Neuter Clinic, 4 W. Grant Rd. (624-5005)
- Guadalupe Veterinary Clinice, 5107 S. 12th Ave. (889-5949)
- Humane Society of Southern Arizona, 3450 N. Kelvin Blvd. (881-0321)
- Santa Cruz Veterinary Clinic, 5408 S. 12th Ave. (889-9643)
- The Spay and Neuter Clinic, 7340 Cortaro Farms Rd. (744-3458)
Appointments are available on a first-call and first-served basis, said Bodfield.
AWASA is a nonprofit organization selected by Pima County to administer free and low cost spay/neuter services to pet owners in economically depressed areas. The AWASA spayed and neutered over 11,000 animals from 2007 to 2011, according to its website. Those animals included dogs, house cats and feral cats.
If you go
- Call a participating clinic to make an appointment. Appointments are first-call, first-served.
- Dogs must be on leashes or in carriers
- Cats must be in carriers
- Pets should not have food after 6 p.m. the day before surgery (water is fine)
- Pets must be between the ages of two months and five years
- Pets must weigh at least three pounds
